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INTERVIEW: Director Gus Van Sant on his new film ‘Paranoid Park’

“Crime and Punishment” on skateboards — that was one of the early tag lines floating around the production of “Paranoid Park,” the new film by Gus Van Sant. Based on a novel by Blake Nelson, the story follows a teenage skateboarder in Portland, Ore., who accidentally kills a security guard and is then left to ponder his guilt in a void of suburban amorality.

“Paranoid Park,” which opens Friday, is the latest in a series of lower-budget “art-house” films for Mr. Van Sant, 55. It follows “Elephant” (2003) and “Last Days” (2005), which also explored mortality and angst among the young. These recent films, with their visual elegance and unorthodox narrative styles, have divided critics, but have also cemented Mr. Van Sant’s reputation as an American auteur.